Ace of Hearts (1921) Lon Chaney (silent)

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0011904/
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Ace of Hearts (1921)



A romantic rivalry among members of a secret society becomes even tenser when one of the men is assigned to carry out an assassination.



Directed by

Wallace Worsley



Writing credits

(in alphabetical order)

Gouverneur Morris story

Ruth Wightman scenario



Cast

Lon Chaney ... Mr. Farallone

Leatrice Joy ... Lilith

John Bowers ... Mr. Forrest

Hardee Kirkland ... Mr. Morgridge, the Society Leader

Raymond Hatton ... The Menace

Edwin Wallock ... Chemist (as Edwin N. Wallock)

Roy Laidlaw ... Doorkeeper

Cullen Landis ... Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited)



Produced by

Samuel Goldwyn .... producer



Original Music by

Vivek Maddala (2000)



Cinematography by

Don Short (as Donovan Short)



Art Direction by

Cedric Gibbons



Music Department

Vivek Maddala .... orchestrator: original music (2000 score)



TRIVIA

The original ending to the film picked up after the bomb explodes at the meeting headquarters. Forrest and Lillith are living in a cabin in the woods, and believe that they are safe thanks to Farralone. Rushing back to the cabin to warn Lillith, he sees Morgridge, who tells him that they have nothing to fear - Farralone's sacrifice has taught him that love is the solution, not destruction. This ending was cut on the request of Samuel Goldwyn, who felt that it was too contrived and that the lovers reading about it in the newspaper was a much more satisfying ending.





Lon Chaney's character was originally called Rattavich, but the name was softened to Farralone to appease censors, who felt that the original name was too unsubtle as to the origins of the group.





Second of four films Lon Chaney made for Goldwyn Pictures.



User Comments (Comment on this title)

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.

My brief review of the film, 23 November 2005



Author: s from Perth, Australia



An intriguing silent Lon Chaney thriller, it is a weak film plot-wise, with heavy-handed messages and a lame moral, but Chaney is excellent in it, with his very expressive face, and there are many intense moments even when what is happening is not well explained. In fact, the lacking character and plot detail makes it more fascinating to view. The basic story is conventional but it has mystery elements worked well into it. The restoration soundtrack is very good too, and for its time, it is quite well made overall. Well melded flashbacks through dissolves and bird's eye view photography are among the techniques cleverly used in the film.



10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-

Wow, do I need to see more Lon Chaney films!, 16 May 2005



Author: B Sponseller from New York City



Although I've seen the standard Lon Chaney horror classics in the past--such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925)--I haven't seen them for a while. This is the first of Chaney's less currently popular films that I've seen. I was very impressed. Although it wasn't just Chaney, but everything about The Ace of Hearts that "clicked" for me on this viewing.



Despite the conventional wisdom, I think The Ace of Hearts works marvelously if you don't have the background information on the story. I think that was part of my attraction to it--it's presented as something of a mystery. As shown on screen, the film concerns some kind of very solemn secret society who have decided that a particular individual is a "Man Who Has Lived Too Long".



We learn that some members of the secret society have been interacting with him--one, Mr. Forrest (John Bowers), has regularly served as his waiter for breakfast for a number of years. "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long" has been going to the same restaurant at 9:00 a.m. every day. Another, Mr. Farallone (Chaney), has been painting "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long's" portrait. We learn the procedure for the secret society's carrying out of their death sentences, which involves the executioner being "randomly" chosen by receiving the Ace of Hearts. The executioner is chosen, and he's given the tools he needs for the job as a plan is settled on. All that's left is to carry out the sentence. However, there's a snag when the executioner has second thoughts, and The Ace of Hearts becomes something of a twisted parable about morality.



As presented in the film, we never learn very much about who the main characters are, who their villain is, and so on. The story stays extremely focused on the plot, which is deceptively simple. There are only two aspects--the machinations of the secret society planning and attempting to carry out the death sentence and a love triangle between Mr. Forrest, Mr. Farallone and Lilith (Leatrice Joy), the only female member of the secret society.



Without knowing the background information that fueled the film, The Ace of Hearts is a taut, metaphorical work about "the power of love". Early in the film, one member of the secret society expresses relief that he wasn't chosen as the executioner because he has a wife and kids at home--there is a chance that the executioner may come to harm while carrying out the sentence. The eventual kink in the plan arises because of love, through an ironic plot development that was initially to give the executioner strength, or added resolve, but that ended up undermining the operation. And the final resolution of the film arises through love and a realization that the final course of action is the right one ethically.



Chaney is amazing in his ability to convey complex emotions and thought without the aid of sound. Apparently, his abilities developed partially out of the fact that his parents were deaf, and he learned how to communicate with and even entertain his ailing mother through gestures.



Wallace Worsley's direction is inventive. Goldwyn films were relatively low budget at the time, so costs were cut by keeping sets to a minimum, for instance. Worsley gets maximum mileage out of the few sets in the film. He uses a well-planned mix of economic shots to easily convey the plot. The few shots set "outside" are extremely effective, with the torrential rain and hurricane-force winds (both caused by technical limitations of the effects at the time) lending an appropriately gloomy atmosphere in crucial scenes. It's just too bad that there aren't very clean prints of the film floating around, or that spending time and money to clean them up wouldn't be justified financially.



Another big factor that helped me love this film is the DVD version I watched--Turner Classic Movies' "Archives" Lon Chaney Collection release. This features a new score by Vivek Maddala that is simply fantastic. It's even more incredible when we consider that this was Maddala's first score--he obtained the gig by winning a contest that TCM hosted. The score is beautiful and modern, with inventive harmonies. It always meshes exquisitely with the action, and goes far in helping to tell the story.



But what about that background information? Well, even though I don't think it's necessary to enjoy the film, it's interesting in its own right. The story, by Gouverneur Morris, was a response to the first "Red Scare" in the U.S., from 1917 to 1920. Although the roots were complex and associated with World War I, all one needs to know is that the Red Scare involved anti-communist ideology, connected to communist paranoia among the public.



Thus, the "secret society" in the film is supposed to be a Russian communist group (although they're often said to be intended as anarchists, but that's complicated, as well, as "anarchist" can mean very different political ideologies). Lon Chaney's character was originally named Rattavich, but the script was eventually generalized to avoid the more overt politicizations. Under this interpretation of the film, the "Man Who Has Lived Too Long" is a capitalist whom the communist secret society feels the need to assassinate--sometimes this is seen as something of a parallel to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria, which is said to be one of the causes of the first World War. This interpretation helps explain how a film that is mostly on the "wrong" side of the moral compass, or even nihilistic (until the ending), made it past the censors. Whatever the reasons, though, it's a refreshing, unusual and well-made film that gains bizarre, eerie universality through its ambiguity.



7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-

Lovely for its time, 28 January 2005



Author: s2 from United States



I think it's a mistake to compare silent movies in general to modern films. The medium is just plain different- subtlety isn't a strong point- kind of like vaudeville. This movie is a great little snippet of history. The story- about anarchists preparing to assassinate a "bad man" is very current for its time- only 3 years after WWI- caused by the assassination of a world figure by an anarchist. So, the message of the movie, that love trumps anarchy was current, and timely. Lon Chaney was a master of silent emoting- and yes, perhaps the acting seems stylized and mannered, but taken in context, it's a great deal of fun. It's also an interesting portrayal of a woman within a political movement- first as an ideologue detached from love and romance and then as a woman consumed by her passion and ready for her husband to abandon his principles to remain at her side. She's in some ways the villain of this piece- and in some ways the hero. Very nice shades of ethical grays.



4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-

Lon Chaney's performance is the main reason to see it., 20 June 2004



Author: k from Phoenix, Arizona, USA



...the plot isn't particularly strong to begin with; one has to have a good knowledge of the post-WW1 "Red Scare" to get out of it what the filmmakers intended, and even then it's not much to speak of. However, that actually works in an odd way, since it allows for this picture to be an example of how Lon Chaney's acting talents contributed to his movies. They truly carry the show here, especially the subtleties of his facial expressions. There's also a rare opportunity to see John Bowers, one of the stars of silent cinema whose career came to a screeching halt with the advent of talkies; the character of Norman Maine in the first two Hollywood productions of A STAR IS BORN was in part based on Bowers. It's also interesting to see the original Goldwyn Pictures logo at the beginning of the picture, before the design was only slightly adapted for use by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer three years later...



4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-

Vintage Chaney!, 8 November 2003



Author: BS from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada



"The Ace of Hearts" is essentially another variation of the eternal triangle. As was usually the case Lon Chaney doesn't get the girl.



The plot involves a secret society referred to as "The Cause", a vigilante group of seven men and one woman who decide to rid the world of people who were in a position to do some good in the world but did not for their own selfish reasons. The group led by Mr. Morgridge (Hardee Kirkland) has chosen its next victim. The group is then dealt cards until one of them is dealt the ace of hearts. The holder of the ace of hearts is then given "the honor" of carrying out the execution.



Within the group are Mr. Farallone (Lon Chaney), Lilith (Leatrice Joy) and Mr. Forrest (John Bowers). Forrest draws the fateful ace of hearts and eagerly looks forward to the task at hand. Lilith was absent from the meeting so Farallone and Forrest, who are both in love with her, go to see her and tell her the news. She rejects Farallone's advances, but agrees to marry Forrest if as she says, that will provide him with the courage he needs.



The couple marry and return to Lilith's apartment for their wedding night. Broken hearted lover Farallone greets them to ensure that they did in fact get married. Later as the couple retires and turn out the lights, we see the pathetic Farallone standing in a driving rain lamenting his lost love. This scene alone makes the movie worthwhile. Chaney could show such emotion facially that one cannot help but feel pity for the distraught lover. This was a method Chaney would repeat in many of his other films as well.



When it comes time to murder "The man who has lived too long" (Raymond Hatton), Forrest, having succumbed to the tender love of Lilith, sees the error of the plot and backs down. Later, the committee condemns Forrest to death for his failure to carry out his assignment. But Farallone sees a way to give the couple their freedom.



Chaney plays what amounts to a supporting role here as the story centers more on the Forrest and Lilith characters, but as I pointed out, Chaney steals the film with that aforementioned scene in the rain. Raymond Hatton by the way, went on to a lengthy career in "B" westerns in the 30s and 40s usually playing the crusty old sidekick.



Vintage Chaney.



Packs a punch, 22 May 2006



Author: P from United States



*** This comment may contain spoilers ***



This movie packs quite a punch. To an audience used to a lot of exposition, it might not be that pleasurable, but this movie is pretty good at getting right down and dirty into its story and leaving us asking for more.



Lon Chaney heads this brilliant fable about a man caught on the losing end of a love-triangle that exists within a secret society. In typical Lon Chaney fashion, this unrequited love threatens to tear his heart and soul apart, and tension mounts over who he may take with him. As the opposing suitor wins the favor of the girl AND the call to do the secret society's dire bidding, the antiheroic protagonist has to figure out how to win the affections of the worried young woman who is anxious over her lover's dangerous mission.



This movie never really quite tells what the secret society is, or why they want to kill "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long," but it's strong visualizations of the love-triangle are very foreboding and lovely, and overhead shots of the table as they pass out the cards searching for "The Ace of Hearts" is both thrillingly suspenseful and a good symbol of objective justice. Even a scene that would seem unnecessary involving a dog shows a lot about the characters and their deeper motivations.



Lon Chaney is one of my favorite actors of all time, and while his pantomime may seem overdone today, he always does it with a lot of understanding and pity for his tragic characters. This acting job is no different, as we share with him his loneliness, his depression, and his climactic hysteria. Modern-day actors could stand to learn a lot from him, and modern-day directors could stand to sheer down the expository dialog and tell their stories to such an effect as this movie.





2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-

Chaney Gives Yet Another Superb Performance, 5 September 2006



Author: H from WA, USA



By today's standards, "Ace of Hearts" is a simplistic morality tale. But once again, Lon Chaney's superb performance revitalizes what could have been a dull story without an actor of Chan

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Ace of Hearts (1921) Lon Chaney (silent)

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